“There is no oneness in the forest unless it is planted as such.”

“I find writing novels a challenge, writing stories a joy. If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden.”

“The aim of forest garden design is to make the relationships as co-operative as possible, while acknowledging that very few plants will yield quite as much as they would if they were living alone. It is the cumulative yield of all the plants living on the same piece of land that makes forest gardens productive, not the high yield of individuals.”

“Briers do not become flowers when there is no danger present. While the forest has flowering plants, it also has trees and thorned plants. Each is suited to exist as it does and does not wish to become something it is not.”

“Elena?""Yes, unless Nick found a woman in the forest, which I suppose wouldn't be too surprising.”

“Spraying to kill trees and and raspberry bushes after a clear-cut merely looks unaesthetic for a short time, but tree plantations are deliberate ecodeath. Yet, tree planting is often pictorially advertised on television and in national magazines by focusing on cupped caring hands around a seedling. But forests do not need this godlike interference... Planting tree plantations is permanent deforestation... The extensive planting of just one exotic species removes thousands of native species.”